As Shutdown Deadline Nears, ARTBA Leads FY 2025 Spending Push

What happened: ARTBA and 45 other national associations and labor unions March 5 urged Congress to approve a fiscal year (FY) 2025 spending package that contains the full highway and transit investment levels promised in the 2021 infrastructure law.

Federal surface transportation programs are running under an extension of FY 2024 levels known as a Continuing Resolution (CR). The current CR, which expires March 14, was meant to give Congress more time to negotiate a final FY 2025 spending plan. House and Senate leaders are also said to be plotting a “year-long” CR, in the event a deal cannot be reached before next Friday. That could lock in highway and public transportation spending at FY 2024 levels.

Why it matters: A year-long CR is equivalent to a $1.2 billion cut in federal highway funding and a $500 million cut in transit funding from previously authorized levels. This would set a negative precedent for future funding of transportation infrastructure improvements, as state departments of transportation rely on the certainty of federal resources to move forward with projects.

What’s next: It’s worth noting that any final spending agreement must be bipartisan. In the unlikely event of a temporary “shutdown” of government spending, most federal highway and public transportation programs will continue operating unimpeded.  Because of the unique budgetary nature of the Highway Trust Fund, surface transportation programs are allowed to keep operating as long as a highway and transit authorization law is in place.

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